May 9, 2003

Severance pay policies reviewed

Campus employees are being asked to comment on a plan aimed at improving severance pay.

Currently, when an employee is being laid off, the department head may elect to offer a choice between severance pay in a lump sum payment or the right to recall and severance.

The revisions would require that all employees being laid off be given these options. The total amount of the payment also would be increased, and employees who have worked for the university for fewer than five years would receive the same level of payment as longer-term employees, said Beverly Wilcox, Human Resources policy development manager.

The duration of the right to recall would be changed from three years to one, two or three years depending on length of service, she said. This will make it the same as the duration of preference for reemployment.

Recall is the right to be rehired if a vacant position in the same department and at the same salary grade comes up after the layoff, said Wilcox. Preference is the right to be rehired if a vacant position in the same or a lower salary grade comes up anywhere on campus. In both cases, the employee must meet the minimum qualifications for the vacancy.

The changes are being proposed for employees who are covered by Personnel Policies for Staff Members. The university is discussing the issue for employees covered by collective bargaining units with the appropriate unions.